6 Tips For Creating Promotional Business Banners That Work

6 Tips For Creating Promotional Business Banners That Work

San Mateo, CA – 4 Sep, 2017 – We’ve all seen great banners, and we’ve all seen really bad ones. A great banner can be an extremely effective promotional tool, while a bad banner can leave an unpleasant feeling about your business. So what do you need to do to avoid getting stuck with a bad banner?

According to Craft Signworks, a top-rated San Mateo Sign Company, it is clarity, planning, and good sign design that makes all the difference in the effectiveness of any business signage.

Banner Placement is Key

Before deciding on the color scheme, text, font size, or even design, you must first determine the intended placement of your banner. Banner placement determines how close people will be to your sign, and how long they will be able to see your message. This determines both the size and amount of text your banner should have.

The physical environment where your banner will be placed impacts material selection, messaging, and design as well. Having this information ready for your sign manufacturer will greatly assist them in making the right recommendations for your banner.

Large, Readable Text is Best

A banner’s purpose is to attract attention from a distance, so large, readable text is vital. The University of Cincinnati research shows both customers and businesses believe legibility is the most important characteristic of a sign. Choose a font that is legible, easy to read, bold, and impactful. Handwriting and script fonts can look pretty, funky, or unique, but if they can’t be read, they have no business on your banners.

Text size is also important. Craft Signworks recommends text that is at least 3” tall for outdoor banners and 1-2” for in-store use. Going to small or too large can impact the ease of comprehension.

Simplicity Sells

The information that you need on your banner depends on your intended purpose and placement. Once you get a broad idea of what you want your banner to do and say, then you can pare that message down it’s simplest, most impactful form.

Craft Signworks recommends keeping your message to 1-2 lines of text for comprehension and visibility purposes. ‘SALE’ can be just as productive on a banner as ‘Labor Day Extravaganza! Buy One, Get One Free Sale on All Ladies & Kids Jackets!’

High-Quality Graphics & Photos

The physical layout and design of your banner depends on your messaging. If you are promoting a specific product or service, then a high-quality, attractive image of either your product or someone experiencing the benefits it provides can say more than multiple lines of text. If using an image, it needs to be clearly legible from the distance that your intended viewer will see it.

When purchasing stock photography for your banner, get the XL or Vector images for best scaling. Low resolution or small images will get distorted and pixelated when stretched to fit on a large format banner, resulting in an image that is hard to interpret, and potentially detrimental to your overall message.

Pick Complementary Colors with Meaning

A single background color instead of an image can often be just as impactful, especially for simple messages. Colors have different meanings and associations, so the colors that you choose for your banner should be based on the emotions you want to evoke in your viewers.

If you are promoting your brand outside of your business, choose colors that are in-line with your branding strategy. If creating a sign to use within your business, colors that contrast with your branding provide bigger impact.

Work With an Expert

A professional sign company can assist you with creating the perfect banner designs for all of your marketing, promotional, and brand awareness needs. If you are local to the San Mateo area, we highly encourage you to reach out to the team at Craft Signworks for expert advice and high-quality signage products.